Disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus having a case with a partition wall for forming two chambers

ABSTRACT

A partition wall composed of a conductor for partitioning the inside of a case into two portions in which approximately all of at least one face of the partition, wall is covered by an insulation plate. A table rotation device and an optical pickup device are disposed in a first chamber in the case partitioned by the partition wall and the insulation plate. A printed circuit board  4  disposed in a second chamber formed in the case. In this manner, a possibility of a phenomenon that the table rotation device or the optical pickup device is affected thermally based on the heat generated caused by the operation of electronic parts or the like mounted on the printed circuit board such that a malfunction or the like occurs will be avoided.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a disc recording and/or reproducingapparatus in which an information signal of a record and/or areproduction is made possible with respect to a disc shaped recordingmedium and more particularly relates to a disc recording and/orreproducing apparatus suitable for being used in an image pickup devicewhich uses a disc shaped recording medium as an information recordingmedium.

2. Description of the Related Art

There has been known, for example, an apparatus described in a patentreference 1 as a conventional disc recording and/or reproducingapparatus which uses a disc shaped recording medium as a recordingmedium. In the patent reference 1 which was applied for a patentpreviously by the present patent applicant, there is described aboutelectronic equipment of a DVD. (Digital Versatile Disc) player or thelike and particularly about an insulator structure.

In electronic equipment having a structure in which an insulator made ofan elastic body is mounted between an exterior body and a drivingmechanism portion disposed in the exterior body and a driving mechanismportion is supported elastically by the exterior body through theinsulator, the electronic equipment described in the patent reference 1has a feature that the insulator comprises a vibration absorbing portionfor absorbing a vibration by its elasticity when a vibration is added ina predetermined direction and a stopper portion for restricting adisplacement by touching the exterior body side when a vibration beyonda range of a vibration absorption by means of the vibration absorbingportion is added as one body configuration.

According to the electronic equipment having such a constitution, itbecomes possible to reduce the number of parts because it becomesunnecessary to compose the stopper portion by additional parts as in aconventional case so that cost saving and a further miniaturization anda thinner configuration of the equipment can be expected.

However, in case of such electronic equipment, it was constitution suchthat a circuit board formed as a discoid shape is made also to play arole of a chassis, the circuit board is equipped with a table rotationdevice and the device assembled body is contained in a space surroundedby an upper cabinet and a lower cabinet. Further, there are mounted alot of electronic parts on the circuit board such as an LSI or an ICconstituting a control circuit for drive-controlling an optical pickupdevice mounted on a table rotation device or on the table rotationdevice, a capacitor, a resistor or others. Therefore, there was aproblem that heat generation is produced based on a fact that theseelectronic parts are driven and the table rotation device and theoptical pickup device are affected thermally by the heat generation.

For example, when the table rotation device becomes a predetermined hightemperature or more caused by the heat radiation of electronic parts, aproblem that a malfunction might be produced in the electronic parts, arotation efficiency deteriorates caused by a fact that the rotation ofthe spindle motor becomes unstable or the like is to occur.

[Cited Patent Reference 1] Japanese laid-open patent No. 2003-151255

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The problem to be solved in the present invention lies in that a tablerotation device or an optical pickup device is affected thermally basedon a heat generation which occurs caused by an operation of anelectronic part mounted on a printed circuit board or the like such thatthere is a possibility that a malfunction or the like is produced.

The invention according to claim 1 of the present application relates toa disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus which comprises a tablerotation device for rotationally-driving a disc shaped recording mediummounted detachably; an optical pickup device for carrying out a recordand/or a reproduction of an information signal with respect to the discshaped recording medium driven rotationally by the table rotationdevice; a printed circuit board provided with a control circuit fordrive-controlling the table rotation device and the pickup device; andan exterior packaging case in which the table rotation device, thepickup device and printed circuit board are contained, wherein the mostspecific feature thereof lies in that a partition wall composed of aconductor which partitions the inside of the exterior packaging caseinto two portions is provided, at least approximately the whole of oneface of the partition wall is covered by a thermal insulation member, atthe same time the table rotation device and the pickup device aredisposed in one chamber in the exterior packaging case partitioned bythe partition wall and the printed circuit board is disposed in theother chamber such that it has a constitution that heat of the printedcircuit board side is not transmitted to the table rotation device sideeasily.

The invention according to claim 2 of the present application relates toa disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus, wherein the tablerotation device is supported by a mechanical chassis and the mechanicalchassis is supported by the partition wall elastically through aninsulator composed of an elastic body.

The invention according to claim 3 of the present application relates toa disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus, wherein a groundingmember which is made deformable in three directions of lengthwise,crosswise and in height connects between the mechanical chassis composedof a conductor and the partition wall.

The invention according to claim 4 of the present application relates toa disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus which comprises asolid-state imaging device from which a picture image corresponding to aphotogenic subject is obtained by means of light inputted through a lenssystem, wherein the apparatus is an image pickup device in which thepicture image obtained in the solid-state imaging device is made to berecordable on the disc shaped recording medium.

The invention according to claim 2 of the present application relates toa disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus which comprises a displaydevice which can display the picture image obtained by the solid-stateimaging device, wherein the picture image supplied from the solid-stateimaging device and the picture image read out from the disc shapedrecording medium can be displayed simultaneously on the display deviceby selectively or by being divided.

According to the invention described in claim 1 of the presentapplication, it is possible to protect or suppress heat conduction byusing a partition wall blocking between two chambers and to make itdifficult for heat generated by the operation of electronic partsmounted on a printed circuit board to be transmitted to a table rotationdevice side, because it is constituted such that the inside of anexterior packaging case is partitioned by a partition wall into twoportions, a table rotation device and a pickup device are disposed inone of the chambers and a printed circuit board is disposed in the otherchamber. In this manner, it is possible to protect or suppress aphenomenon that the table rotation device is affected by the heatgenerated on the printed circuit board side and to protect or suppress aphenomenon that a malfunction occurs caused by a fact that the tablerotation device becomes a high temperature more than necessary or therotation efficiency becomes deteriorated.

According to the invention described in claim 2 of the presentapplication, it is possible to protect or suppress a vibration on theside of the exterior packaging case to be transmitted to the mechanicalchassis through the partition wall by holding the mechanical chassissuch as being suspended in mid air apart from the partition wall,because it is constituted such that the mechanical chassis supportingthe table rotation device through the insulator of an elastic body issupported by the partition wall elastically.

According to the invention described in claim 3 of the presentapplication, it is possible to attempt ground strengthening by flowing astatic charge or an operation current on the side of the table rotationdevice to the side of the partition wall certainly while minimizing aload for the elastic support by the insulator based on the connectionstructure, because it is constituted such that the mechanical chassisand the partition wall are connected by a grounding member which isdeformable in three directions of lengthwise, crosswise and in height.

According to the invention described in claim 4 of the presentapplication, it is possible to constitute the disc recording and/orreproducing apparatus as an image pickup device which can record apicture image obtained in the solid-state imaging device on a discshaped recording medium by providing a solid-state imaging device fromwhich a picture image corresponding to a photogenic subject is obtainedby means of light inputted through a lens device. In this manner, it isdifficult for heat generated by the operation of electronic partsmounted on a printed circuit board to be transmitted to the side of atable rotation device and the table rotation device is not affected bythe heat generated on the side of the printed circuit board, and furtherit is possible to protect or suppress a phenomenon that a malfunctionoccurs caused by a fact that the table rotation device becomes a hightemperature more than necessary or the rotation efficiency becomesdeteriorated by making the heat influence smaller.

According to the invention described in claim 4 of the presentapplication, it is possible to display the picture image supplied fromthe solid-state imaging device and the picture image read out from thedisc shaped recording medium simultaneously on one picture screenselectively or by being divided, because it is constituted such that adisplay device is provided in the image pickup device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a disc type image pickup device relating to one embodimentof a disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus according to thepresent invention where an oblique perspective diagram is shown on acondition that a disc lid is opened;

FIG. 2 is an oblique perspective diagram seeing a disc lid side of thedisc type image pickup device shown in FIG. 1 from the back face sidethereof;

FIG. 3 is an oblique perspective diagram seeing a display device side ofthe disc type image pickup device shown in FIG. 1 from the front faceside thereof;

FIG. 4 an oblique perspective diagram seeing a display device of thedisc type image pickup device shown in FIG. 1, when it is opened, fromthe back face side thereof;

FIG. 5 is an oblique perspective diagram seen from the back face sideand showing an internal partition wall or the like by removing a panelon a substrate side of the disc type image pickup device shown in FIG.1;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the disc type image pickup deviceshown in FIG. 1 cross-sectioned at a midway portion of a back and forthdirection;

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing an assembled condition of a partition wallrelating to the disc type image pickup device shown in FIG. 1 and a discdrive apparatus;

FIG. 8 is a bottom plan view showing an assembled condition of apartition wall relating to the disc type image pickup device shown inFIG. 1 and a disc drive apparatus;

FIG. 9 is a side view showing an assembled condition of a partition wallrelating to the disc type image pickup device shown in FIG. 1 and a discdrive apparatus;

FIG. 10 is an oblique perspective diagram of a partition wall relatingto the disc type image pickup device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is an oblique perspective diagram of a duct member relating tothe disc type image pickup device shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 12 is an oblique perspective diagram showing an insulator and agrounding spring relating to the disc type image pickup device shown inFIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A purpose for making it difficult for heat on the side of the printedcircuit board in the exterior packaging case to be transmitted to theside of the table rotation device was realized in a simple structure bypartitioning at least approximately the whole of one face into twochambers using a partition wall covered by a thermal insulation member,by disposing a printed circuit board in one of the chambers and at thesame time by disposing a table rotation device or the like in the otherof the chambers.

FIGS. 1 to 12 show exemplified embodiments according to the presentinvention. More specifically, FIGS. 1 to 4 are diagrams of an imagepickup device showing one embodiment of a disc recording and/orreproducing apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 5 is anoblique perspective diagram removing a panel on the substrate side ofthe image pickup device, FIG. 6 is a central longitudinal sectional viewof the image pickup device, FIGS. 7 to 9 assembly diagrams of apartition wall of the image pickup device and a disc drive apparatus,FIG. 10 is an oblique perspective diagram of the partition wall, FIG. 11is an oblique perspective diagram of a duct member, and FIG. 12 is anoblique perspective diagram showing an insulator and a grounding member.

An image pickup device 1 shown in FIG. 1 or the like shows oneembodiment of a disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus, wherein aDVD is used as one specific example of a disc shaped recording mediumwhich is an information recording medium, and it is made possible torecord an optical picture image on the DVD by converting to anelectrical signal in a CCD (solid-state imaging device), to display iton a display device such as an LCD monitor or the like (hereinafter,named as “disc type image pickup device”). However, the disc shapedrecording medium used in the present invention is not restricted to DVDand it is needless to say that a recordable optical disc such as aCD-ROM or others can be used and it is possible to apply a disc shapedrecording medium of other recording system such as, for example, amagneto-optical disc, a magnetic disc or the like.

The disc type image pickup device 1 is constituted as shown in FIGS. 1to 6 such that it comprises a disc drive apparatus 3 for carrying outrecording (writing in) and reproducing (reading out) an informationsignal by rotationally-driving a DVD 2 mounted detachably; a printedcircuit board 4 (4A, 4B and 4C) provided with a control circuit forcarrying out a drive control or the like of the disc drive apparatus 3;a lens device 6 for taking in an image of a photogenic subject as alight and for guiding it to a CCD 5; an exterior packaging case 7 inwhich these of the disc drive apparatus 3 and the like are contained; adisc lid 9 mounted on the exterior packaging case 7 freely rotatably forbeing able to cover a disc containing portion 8 so as to be able to openand close it; a partition wall 10 for partitioning the inside of theexterior packaging case 7 into two chambers; and an insulation plate 11or the like for covering approximately the whole of one face of thepartition wall 10.

The exterior packaging case 7 is composed of a disc side panel 12 and apanel 13 on the substrate side which are combined such as sandwichingthe disc drive apparatus 3 or the like from both sides and a front panel14 and a rear panel 15 which are disposed back and forth of a light axisdirection of the lens device 6 and are combined with both of the panels12 and the 13 where a hollow housing is constituted by these panels. Thelens device 6 is fixed at an upper portion of the exterior packagingcase 7 and an objective lens 16 thereof is exposed on the front face bypassing through an upper portion of the front panel 14 forward. In theinside of the exterior packaging case 7, the CCD 5 is disposed backwardwith respect to the lens device 6 and a viewfinder 17 is disposedbackward with respect to the CCD 5.

The viewfinder 17 is exposed at an upper portion of the exteriorpackaging case 7 and constituted such that the back side thereof isrotatable in an up and down direction by making the front side thereofas a rotational center. In this manner, it is made to be possible forthe viewfinder 17 to be angle-adjusted to an arbitrary angle in apredetermined range of angle from a horizontal condition which is inparallel with the light axis of the lens device 6 until an upwardcondition where the back side is uplifted upward. Further, anaccessories shoe 18 to which a video light, a microphone for beingattached externally or the like is to be mounted detachably on an upperportion of the exterior packaging case 7 and on the front side of theviewfinder 17. Then, a microphone 20 of a stereo system is built-in onthe downside of the lens device 6 of the front panel 14.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, a battery attaching portion 22 to which apower supply battery 21 is to be mounted detachable is providedapproximately at the center portion of the rear panel 15 of the exteriorpackaging case 7. The battery attaching portion 22 is opened on theupper face and the back face of the exterior packaging case 7 and thepower supply battery 21 is made possible to be inserted and taken outfrom the rear side and obliquely upward side. Further, the rear panel 15is provided with two mounting brackets 25 for a suspensory strap. Onemounting bracket 25 from the two mounting brackets 25 is disposed at anupper portion on the right side and the other mounting bracket 25 isdisposed at the bottom portion on the left side.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, a display device 27 is mounted at thepanel 13 on the substrate side of the exterior packaging case 7 such asposture changeably. The display device 27 is composed of a tabular LCDmonitor 28, a panel case 29 containing the LCD monitor 28 and a panelsupporting mechanism 30 for supporting the panel case 29 such as posturechangeably with respect to the exterior packaging case 7.

The panel supporting mechanism 30 comprises a horizontal rotationfunction which enables a rotation of the panel case 29 by approximately90 degree in a horizontal direction by making the vertical axis as arotational center and a back and forth rotation function which enables arotation of the panel case 29 by approximately 180 degree in a back andforth direction by making the horizontal axis as a rotational center. Inthis manner, the display device 27 can selectively take a containedcondition shown in FIG. 3, a condition in which the panel case 29 shownin FIG. 4 is rotated by 90 degree and the LCD monitor 28 is facedbackward, and a condition in which the panel case 29 shown in FIG. 4 isrotated by 180 degree and the LCD monitor 28 is faced forward.

Further, the panel 13 on the substrate side is provided with an inneroperation unit 32 composed of a lot of operation buttons covered asfreely opened and closed by the panel case 29, an outside face operationunit 33 composed of a lot of operation buttons disposed on the upperside of the panel case 29, and an outside front operation unit 34composed of a plurality of operation buttons or a operation dialdisposed on the forward side of the panel case 29. The reference numeral35 shown in FIG. 3 or the like designates a panel lock mechanism forlocking the panel case 29 on a closed condition.

As shown in FIG. 1, the disc side panel 12 of the exterior packagingcase 7 is provided with a disc containing chamber 8 composed of anopening portion for exposing a part of the disc drive apparatus 3.Approximately at the center portion of this disc containing chamber 8, atable rotation device of the disc drive apparatus 3 is disposed and thedisc drive apparatus 3 is supported by the exterior packaging case 7 onthat condition. This disc containing chamber 8 is covered by the disclid 9 such that it can be opened and closed.

The disc lid 9 is made by a shape matching the shape of the disccontaining chamber 8 and comprises a flat portion 9 a covering the flatside of the disc containing chamber 8 and a side face portion 9 bcovering a side face notch portion of the disc containing chamber 8continuously with a part of that flat portion 9 a. Further, both sideportions at the bottom of the disc lid 9 are provided with a pair ofbearing portions 9 c, 9 c and a support axis 38 is inserted into thesebearing portions 9 c, 9 c freely rotatably. Both edges of the supportaxis 38 are protruded outwardly from the respective bearing portions 9c, 9 c and those protrusion edges are fixed to the disc side panel 12.In this manner, the disc lid 9 is supported by the disc side panel 12through the support axis 38 freely rotatably.

Also, the support axis 38 is mounted with a twisted spring 39 a springpiece of one terminal of the twisted spring 39 is latched to the disclid 9 and a spring piece of the other terminal is latched to the discside panel 12. In this manner, the disc lid 9 is always biased by thespring force of the twisted spring 39 to the direction for opening thedisc containing chamber 8. Further, a link mechanism 40 for limiting theopening amount of the disc lid 9 is hung between the disc lid 9 and thedisc side panel 12. The link mechanism 40 is composed of a lid side link41 supported by the disc lid 9 freely rotatably and a panel side link 42supported by the disc side panel 12 freely rotatably, and front edgeportions of both the links 41 and 42 are interconnected each otherfreely rotatably.

It is constituted by means of a lid lock device 44 disposed at the mostdistant portion from the support axis 38 such that the disc lid 9 can belocked on a condition that the disc containing chamber 8 is closed. Thelid lock device 44 is constituted such that it is provided with a lockmember that is not shown in the drawings and is fixed to the disc lid 9and an operation member 51 and slide member or the like mounted slidablyon the disc side panel 12. While the lock member is provided with a lockclaw, the slide member is provided with a claw stopper which can beengaged with the lock claw. The claw stopper of the slide member isdisposed on a moving locus of the lock claw by means of the spring forceof the spring member.

In this manner, the lock claw to be engaged with the claw stopperretreats the slide member against the spring force of the spring memberby pressing the disc lid 9 to the side of the disc side panel 12.Consequently, the claw stopper climbs over the lock claw and the clawstopper and the lock claw are engaged each other. In this manner, thedisc containing chamber 8 is closed by the disc lid 9 and the disc lid 9is locked to the disc side panel 12. The release of this lock can becarried out by slide-operating the operation member 51 to a lock releasedirection against the spring force of the spring member.

Also, the disc side panel 12 is mounted with a hand strap 60 such asenclosing the disc lid 9. The hand strap 60 is for protecting amiss-drop or the like of the disc type image pickup device 1 bysupporting a user's hand portion which grips the disc lid 9 portion tobe used as a grip portion of the exterior packaging case 7.

The hand strap 60 is composed of a supporting belt 61 whose both edgesare fixed to the disc side panel 12 and a protection pad 62 which ismounted on the supporting belt 61 and is contacted with a back portionof a user's hand. One terminal of the supporting belt 61 is fixed to amounting bracket 63 which is fixed at the front side and the bottomportion of the disc side panel 12 and the other terminal thereof isinserted into an inner side from a through hole provided at the backside midway portion of the disc side panel 12 and is fixed to a mountingbracket provided in the inside.

As shown in FIG. 2 or the like, a power supply switch 64, a recordbutton 65 and a mode change-over dial 66 is disposed on the back sidemidway portion of the disc side panel 12. Then, a shutter button 67 anda zooming lever 68 are disposed on the back side and at the upperportion of the disc side panel 12. A concave portion 12 a is set betweenthe zooming lever 68 of the disc side panel 12 and the operation member51 and an exhaust opening 70 which is opened to the side of the concaveportion 12 a is provided. The exhaust opening 70 is to be one ofopenings of the duct described later on. An inlet 71 which forms theother opening of the duct is provided at the bottom portion of the discside panel 12 corresponding to that exhaust opening 70 (see FIG. 6).

It is suitable for the material of the exterior packaging case 7 havingsuch a constitution to use, for example, ABS(acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resin), but it is needless to say thatother engineering plastics can be applied and it is also possible to usea metal of an aluminum alloy or the like other than synthetic resins.

As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the inside of above-mentioned exteriorpackaging case 7 is partitioned in the right and left direction(direction crossing the light axis of the lens device 6) by thepartition wall 10 and there are provided a first chamber 72 on the sideof the disc drive apparatus 3 and a second chamber 73 on the side of theprinted circuit board 4. The partition wall 10 has a shape as shown inFIG. 10, is formed by a platy member and is clamp-fixed in the inside ofthe exterior packaging case 7 by a firmly fixing member such as a screw.The partition wall 10 plays a role of a frame and is provided with aplurality (four in the present embodiment) of supporting projections 74for supporting the disc drive apparatus 3 on one face side, and aplurality of supporting pieces 75 are provided on the other face sidefor supporting the printed circuit board 4 or the like.

Further, the partition wall 10 is provided with opening portions 10 aand notches 10 b at a plurality of places for lightening the weightthereof. It is suitable for the material of the partition wall 10 touse, for example, stainless steel (SUS), but it is needless to say thatsteel, aluminum alloy and other metals can be applied and it is alsopossible to use engineering plastics other than metals. It should benoted that the major part of opening portions 10 a and notches 10 b isoccluded by an insulation plate 11 formed by a thermal insulation memberwhich will be explained next in order to take a structure where thefirst chamber 72 and the second chamber 73 are partitioned so as to makeit difficult for heat to be transmitted.

More specifically, as shown by lattice patterns in FIG. 5 and FIGS. 7 to9, the insulation plate 11 having a predetermined shape and structure isoverlapped and constituted integrally such as covering approximately thewhole of the partition wall 10 on one face of the partition wall 10.Further, the insulation plate 11 for electrically connecting the discdrive apparatus 3 disposed in the first chamber 72 and the printedcircuit board 4 disposed in the second chamber 73 is provided with acommunicating hole 76 through which a flexible printed board isinserted.

It is suitable for a means for fixing the insulation plate 11 to thepartition wall 10 to use, for example, a method for screw-locking byusing a plurality of fixing screws, but it is possible other than theabove to use various firmly fixing means such as joining by adhesivematerials, fixing by small-screw locking or the like. It is suitable forthe material of the insulation plate 11 to use, for example, ABS whichis light and has an excellent heat insulation characteristic, but it isneedless to say that other engineering plastics can be applied and it isalso possible to use ceramics, new ceramics or the like.

As shown in FIG. 6, the disc drive apparatus 3 is supported elasticallyon the face of the partition wall 10 overlapped with the insulationplate 11 through an insulator 77 composed of an elastic body. Theinsulator 77 is composed of a rubber-like elastic body formedcylindrically as shown in FIG. 12 and an annular groove 77 a which iscontinuous in a circumferential direction is provided at a midwayportion of its peripheral surface in an axial direction. Further,supporting projections 77 b are provided on both faces of the insulator77 in a tube axial direction for restricting the displacement of theinsulator 77 and at the same time for absorbing the vibration in a tubeaxial direction.

A predetermined number (four in the present embodiment) of theinsulators 77 are mounted to an insulator receiving portion 80 a of amechanical chassis 80 composed of a conductor in the disc driveapparatus 3 or in a notch hole provided in an insulator receiving piece80 b by fitting respective annular grooves 77 a. Then, these fourinsulators 77 are fitted to the four support pin 74 which are providedin a protruding condition on one face of the partition wall 10respectively. Each of the support pins 74 are composed of a supportportion 74 a having a nearly equal diameter as that of the insulator 77and a projection portion 74 b protruded at a center portion of thesupport portion 74 a and is fixed to the partition wall 10 by a firmlyfixing means such as calking or the like.

Four insulators 77 are mounted to the support pins 74 respectively byfitting the center holes 77 c of the insulators 77 to the projectionportions 74 b of the support pins 74. Then, respective insulators 77 areprotected from dropping out by mounting-screws 78 which are screwedtogether to the front edges of the projection portions 74 b of therespective support pins 74. The mechanical chassis 80 supportedelastically by the partition wall 10 through such insulators 77 isconstituted by a frame-like member having an enough large strength.

Also, the partition wall 10 and the mechanical chassis 80 are connectedelectrically each other by a grounding member 81 having an excellentelectric conductivity. The grounding member 81 is composed of a variableportion 81 a which can be deformed (or flexible) in three directions oflongitudinal and lateral directions (two directions orthogonal eachother in planar directions) and a height direction (directionperpendicular to aforesaid planar), and fixed portions 81 b and 81 cwhich are continuous to both edges of the variable portion 81 arespectively. The variable portion 81 a of the grounding member 81 isformed in a condition that in case of, for example, making it inS-shaped, both edge portions thereof are movable almost withoutresistance along an S-shaped planar direction (longitudinal directionand lateral direction) and a height direction perpendicular thereto bymaking the wall thickness thereof extremely thin and at the same time bymaking the width thereof enough thin.

One fixed portion 81 b continuous to the variable portion 81 a isclamp-fixed to the partition wall 10 by a fixing screw 79. Also, theother fixed portion 81 c continuous to the variable portion 81 a isclamp-fixed to the mechanical chassis 80 by a fixing screw 79. Themechanical chassis 80 is connected to the partition wall 10 electricallyconductively through the grounding member 81 and is grounded to a groundportion of the exterior packaging case 7. In particular, both of thefixed portions 81 b and 81 c of both the edges of the grounding member81 are fixed by small-screw locking, so that it is possible to take aground certainly. It is preferable for the material of the groundingmember 81 to use, for example, a copper alloy, but it is also possibleto use other metals.

Also, as shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, the mechanical chassis 80 isequipped with a table rotation device 82 to which the DVD 2 is mounteddetachably and an optical pickup device 86 showing one specific exampleof a pickup device. The table rotation device 82 is composed of aspindle motor 83 fixed to the mechanical chassis 80 and a turn table 84fixed to a rotational portion of the spindle motor 83.

The turn table 84 is composed of a fitting portion 84 a to which acenter hole 2 a of the DVD 2 is fitted and a placing portion 84 b onwhich a marginal portion of the center hole 2 a is placed. Further, thefitting portion 84 a is provided with a plurality of engaging claws 85 awhich hold the DVD 2 by being engaged with the marginal portion of thecenter hole 2 a of the DVD 2 in a circumferential direction with anequal interval. Respective engaging claws 85 a are biased outward to aradial direction by a spring 85 b and it becomes possible to carry outthe mounting operation and the removing operation of the DVD 2 withrespect to the fitting portion 84 a by retreating the engaging claws 85a against the spring force of the spring 85 b. It should be noted thatthe face of the placing portion 84 b is set to be in parallel with theface of the mechanical chassis 80.

Also, the optical pickup device 86 is constituted so as to comprise abiaxial actuator 88 having a pickup lens 87 facing the informationrecording surface of the DVD 2 and a slide member 89 or the likeequipped with the biaxial actuator 88. The slide member 89 is mademovable guided by two guide axes which are not shown in the drawings.The two guide axes are made in parallel each other by sandwiching thespindle motor 83 and a pickup moving device 90 is provided in thevicinity of one of the guide axes.

As shown in FIG. 7, the pickup moving device 90 is composed of a feedingscrew axis 91 engaged with a feeding nut which is not shown and is fixedto the slide member 89 and a feeding motor 92 having this feeding screwaxis 91 as a rotation axis. The feeding screw axis 91 is set to be inparallel with a guide axis of the optical pickup device 86 and issupported freely rotatably by the mechanical chassis 80. In this manner,the optical pickup device 86 is moved selectively to a directionapproaching the turn table 84 and to the direction away from the turntable 84 n response to the rotational direction of the feeding screwaxis 91 by rotationally-driving the feeding motor 92.

The disc drive apparatus 3 is composed of afore said mechanical chassis80, the table rotation device 82, the optical pickup device 86 and thepickup moving device 90. The upper face of the disc drive apparatus 3 iscovered by a protective cover 93 for its major part excluding apredetermined region for the turn table 84 and the optical pickup device86 and a portion of the feeding motor 92.

The disc drive apparatus 3 having such a constitution is positioned at apredetermined position in the first chamber 72 through the partitionwall 10 which partitions the inside of the exterior packaging case 7into right and left directions by mounting the partition wall 10 at apredetermined position of the inside of the exterior packaging case 7 asshown in FIG. 5. At this time, the turn table 84 and its peripheralportion of the disc drive apparatus 3 are faced in the disc containingchamber 8 of the disc side panel 12 and are faced to the disc lid 9.Then, as shown in FIG. 6, a thermal insulation gap 100A composed of airlayer is set between the disc drive apparatus 3 and the partition wall10 or the insulation plate 11, and it is made to be a structure suchthat it is difficult for the heat to be transmitted from the partitionwall 10 to the disc drive apparatus 3.

A duct member 95 elongated in an up and down direction crossing the backand forth direction is fixed at a midway portion of the face in the backand forth direction on the opposite side of the insulation plate 11 ofthe partition wall 10 by means of a firmly fixing means such as a screwlocking or the like. The duct member 95 is to set a path of fluid (duct)passing through in an up and down direction approximately at the centerportion of the exterior packaging case 7 and a fluid path 96 is formedbetween it and the partition wall 10.

The duct member 95 is made to be a crank shaped biased in a back andforth direction as shown in FIG. 11 and a deviated portion 95 a, anevaginated portion 95 b and a seat portion 95 c are provided at theupper edge thereof. A bottom opening portion 96 b which is communicatedto the inlet 71 provided on the bottom face of the disc side panel 12 isformed at the bottom of the duct member 95 and an upper edge openingportion 96 a which is communicated to the exhaust opening 70 provided onthe upper face of the disc side panel 12 is formed at the deviatedportion 95 a.

Though not shown in the drawings, a partition wall is provided at aportion connected to the deviated portion 95 a of the duct member 95rain water which may get into the inside of the fluid path 96 by way ofits partition wall from the exhaust opening 70 to the upper edge openingportion 96 a is to be guided to the side of the bottom opening portion96 b. As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, a fan 97 for streaming ambient aircompulsorily to the fluid path 96 is clamp-fixed at the seat portion 95c of the duct member 95 by a firmly fixing means of a mounting screw 97a through an insulator composed of an elastic body. The seat portion 95c is provided with a first opening portion 98 a opened exteriorly andalso, the evaginated portion 95 b neighboring to the deviated portion 95a is provided with a second opening portion 98 b opened to the side ofthe seat portion 95 c.

The first opening portion 98 a of the duct member 95 is made to face theinlet of the fan 97 and at the same time the second opening portion 98 bis made to face the discharge opening of the fan 97. In this manner, anegative pressure is operated at the bottom opening portion 96 b of thefluid path 96 when the fan 97 is driven rotationally and cold air of theambient air is introduced into the inside of the fluid path 96 by way ofthe bottom opening portion 96 b from the inlet 71 opened on the bottomface of the exterior packaging case 7. Then, the air gets into theinside of the inlet of the fan 97 from the first opening portion 98 aand that air is discharged to the upper edge opening portion 96 a by wayof the second opening portion 98 b from the discharge opening of the fan97. Further, the air discharged to the upper edge opening portion 96 ais exhausted exteriorly from the exhaust opening 70 opened on the upperface of the exterior packaging case 7.

The duct member 95 having such a constitution is provided with aplurality of mounting pieces 95 d to which mounting screws for fixing itto the partition wall 10 are to be inserted. It is suitable for thematerial of the duct member 95 to use, for example, an aluminum alloy orother metal which has an excellent thermal conductivity, but it is alsopossible to use an engineering plastic or the like having a thermalconductivity.

In this manner, since the fluid path 96 formed by the duct member 95 isprovided approximately at the center portion of the exterior packagingcase 7 so as to pass through in an up and down direction, it is possibleto radiate the heat of the inside of the exterior packaging case 7exteriorly by using the fluid path 96. Therefore, it is possible toinhibit the temperature of the spindle motor 83, the biaxial actuator 88or the like of the disc drive apparatus 3 from becoming high more thannecessary and in this manner, it is possible to prevent a rotationaldefect or malfunction of the spindle motor 83 or the like caused by thetemperature increase from occurring. Furthermore, the fan 97 is disposedin the fluid path 96, so that the ambient air is circulated compulsorilyin the fluid path 96 by driving this fan 97 such that the coolingefficiency of the internal devices can be made high.

On the other hand, since the exhaust opening 70 is opened on the upperface of the disc side panel 12, it happens, for example, that rain watergets into the inside of the fluid path 96 from the exhaust opening 70 incase of outdoor photographing or the like on rainy weather. Also in sucha case, the rain water getting into the inside of the fluid path 96 isintroduced to the side of the bottom opening portion 96 b from adrainage ditch formed by the partition wall. Furthermore, since theinlet of the fan 97 is faced to the first opening portion 98 a providedon the side face of the evaginated portion 95 b apart from a drainageditch, the rain water which got into the inside of the upper edgeopening portion 96 a never flows into the inlet inside of the fan 97.Therefore, it is possible to prevent a defect that the fan 97 touchesthe rain water so as to be rusted from occurring.

Also, as shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of printed circuit boards 4 (threeprinted circuit boards 4A, 4B and 4C are shown in FIG. 6) are disposedin the inside of the second chamber 73 of the exterior packaging case 7.Three printed circuit boards 4A, 4B and 4C are disposed as beinglayer-like with an appropriate distance one another and thermalinsulation gaps 100B, 100C, 100D and 100E composed of air layers are setbetween adjacent printed circuit boards and between the printed circuitboard and the partition wall 10 or the panel 13 on the substrate side.

For example, the first printed circuit board 4A is clamp-fixed to frontedges of a plurality of supporting pieces 75 provided vertically on thepartition wall 10 by mounting screws 99 a and thus the thermalinsulation gap 100B is set between it and the partition wall 10. Thesecond printed circuit board 4B is clamp-fixed to a plurality ofbrackets 101 fixed on the inner face of the panel 13 on the substrateside by mounting screws 99 b and thus the thermal insulation gap 100C isset between it and the first printed circuit board 4A.

Further, the third printed circuit board 4C is clamp-fixed to asupporting projection 13 a provided on the panel 13 on the substrateside by a mounting screw 99 c. In this manner, the thermal insulationgap 100D is set between the third printed circuit board 4C and thesecond printed circuit board 4B, and the thermal insulation gap 100E isset between the third printed circuit board 4C and the panel 13 on thesubstrate side.

A heat radiation rubber 104A composed of a heat conductive fabricationobject having an excellent thermal conductivity is intervened between anelectronic part 102 (for example, LSI, microprocessor or the like whichgenerates heat terribly when operated) mounted on the first printedcircuit board 4A and the duct member. Also, a heat-sink 105 having anexcellent thermal conductivity is clamp-fixed on the upper face theevaginated portion 95 b of the duct member 95 by a mounting screw 106 a.A heat radiation rubber 104B is intervened between the heat-sink 105 andthe first printed circuit board 4A, and a heat radiation rubber 104C isintervened between the heat-sink 105 and the second printed circuitboard 4B.

It is possible to cite, for example, “cool-provide” made by KitagawaIndustries Co., LTD. for the heat radiation rubbers 104A, 104B and 104C.The cool-provide is composed of a mold body of silicone gel having athermal conductivity and has an excellent flexibility, and it ispossible to mold it in a large variety of shapes easily.

It is possible to cite a matter, for example, like next as a feature ofthe cool-provide. The color of the cool-provide is visually “green”, thethermal conductivity thereof is 2 (W/m*K) according to a test procedure(QTM method), the specific gravity thereof is 1.92 and the hardnessthereof (ASKERC) is 20 according to JISK6253 while it has flameresistance so as to have a measured value of V-1 according to a testprocedure UL94. Further, the cool-provide has a tack property (beingstuck-on a material body or a property of sticking a material body) andit is possible to fix a part or the like temporarily only by an adhesiveforce of the surface portion without using a firmly fixing means such asa screw if it is a material body or a part having a weight to a certaindegree.

In a heat radiation rubber 104 having such a property, one face of theheat radiation rubber 104A is adhered to the surface of the duct member95 and the other surface thereof is adhered to one face of the firstprinted circuit board 4A. The other surface of the first printed circuitboard 4A is adhered with one face of the heat radiation rubber 104B andthe other surface thereof is adhered with one face of the heat-sink 105.Then, the other surface of the heat-sink 105 is adhered with one face ofthe heat radiation rubber 104C and the other surface thereof is adheredwith one face of the second printed circuit board 4B. It should be notedthat a heat radiation rubber 104 is not used for the third printedcircuit board 4C and the reason thereof is because no electronic part ofsignificant heat generation is mounted on the third printed circuitboard 4C.

According to such a constitution, when the first printed circuit board4A generates heat caused by the operation of electronic parts or thelike mounted thereon, heat is conducted to the duct member 95 from theelectronic part 102 through the heat radiation rubber 104A on one handand heat is conducted to the duct member 95 through the heat radiationrubber 104B and the heat-sink 105 on the other hand. Also, when thesecond printed circuit board 4B generates heat caused by the operationof electronic parts or the like, heat is conducted to the duct member 95through the heat radiation rubber 104C and the heat-sink 105. As aresult, heat of the first printed circuit board 4A and the secondprinted circuit board 4B can be conducted to the duct member 95efficiently, because both of the heat radiation rubber 104 and theheat-sink 105 are formed by conductors transmitting heat well.

Further, not only the duct member 95 is formed by a heat conductor butalso the fluid path 96 is formed inside thereof and the fan 97 isprovided in the fluid path 96, so that it is possible to remove the heatof the duct member 95 and cool it by driving the fan 97 and circulatingambient air in the fluid path 96. Therefore, it is possible to radiatethe heat of the first and second printed circuit boards 4A and 4B to theoutside efficiently through the heat radiation rubber 104, the heat-sink105 and duct member 95 and to prevent the temperature of the inside ofthe second chamber 73 from becoming high more than necessary.

Also, as shown in FIG. 5, the lens device 6 is contained in the insideof the second chamber 73 of the exterior packaging case 7 on a conditionthat the objective lens 16 is exposed to the outside of the exteriorpackaging case 7. The lens device 6 is provided with a lens body tube110 in which a plurality of lenses including the objective lens 16 arecontained and the CCD 5 is disposed on a light axis of the back face ofthe lens body tube 110. A reference numeral 111 shown in FIG. 5 is aheat-sink enclosing the upper face and one side face of the lens bodytube 110. The heat-sink 111 is a device for acquiring a smooth operationof the lens device 6 or the CCD 5 by suppressing the heat generation ofthe lens device 6, the CCD 5 or the like.

The heat-sink 111 comprises an upper face portion 111 a, a side faceportion 111 b and a back face portion 111 c and is fixed to the lensbody tube 110 by a firmly fixing means such as a mounting screw which isnot shown. The outer face of the lens body tube 110 touches respectiveinner faces of the upper face portion 111 a and the side face portion111 b of the heat-sink 111 and the CCD 5 is fixed to the front face ofthe back face portion 111 c. It is possible to cite, for example, a zoomlens motor generating heat concurrently with its operation or anelectronic part or the like such as the CCD 5 as a heat generationsource of the lens device 6 or the like. It is suitable for the materialof the heat-sink 111 to use, for example, a copper plate which is a heatconductor, but it is needless to say that other metals can be used andit is also possible to use engineering plastics if they are heatconductors.

According to the disc type image pickup device having such aconstitution, a partition wall for partitioning the inside of theexterior packaging case 7 into two portions is provided and at the sametime, an insulation plate which is a thermal insulation member isprovided on one face (both faces are also possible) of the partitionwall for covering approximately the whole thereof, so that it ispossible to dispose the disc drive apparatus and the printed circuitboard separately and isolated in the chambers by means of thesepartition wall and insulation plate. Consequently, it is possible tomake it difficult for the heat generated by the operation of theelectronic parts mounted on the printed circuit board to be transmittedto the side of the table rotation device.

In this manner, it is possible to prevent or suppress a phenomenon thatthe table rotation device is affected thermally by the heat generated onthe side of the printed circuit board and to prevent or suppress aphenomenon that a malfunction occurs caused by a fact that the tablerotation device becomes a high temperature more than necessary or therotation efficiency is deteriorated. Also, the inside of the exteriorpackaging case 7 is closed by the partition wall or the like, so thatfor example, in case of assembling operation, it is possible to decreasethe possibility that dust gets into the side of the disc driveapparatus. Also, it is possible to increase the effect further higher bymaking the thermal insulation member as a dual structure.

Further, in aforesaid embodiments, since the disc drive apparatus issupported so as to be suspended in the hollow in the housing by a damperstructure composed of the insulator, it is necessary to ground-connectthe mechanical chassis of the disc drive apparatus to the ground portionof the exterior packaging case, but it is possible to take the groundwithout bothering the damper structure, because a constitution such thata grounding member deformable in three directions of lengthwise,crosswise and in height is to connect both of them. Then, it is needlessto say that for a countermeasure relating to a static charge of thetable rotation device and there is an extreme effect not only for acountermeasure to the electrostatic but also for a countermeasure toundesired radiation. Furthermore, since the fixed portions of both theedges of the grounding member are fixed to the mechanical chassis andthe partition wall by small-screw locking respectively, it is possibleto take the ground certainly.

The present invention is not restricted to the exemplified embodimentsmentioned above and also shown in the drawings and it is possible toapply various modified embodiments in an area without departing from thescope thereof. For example, it was explained in aforesaid embodimentsabout examples where the present invention is applied to a disc typeimage pickup device using a DVD as a recording medium, but it isapplicable to use a disc shaped recording medium of other recordingsystem such as a magneto-optical disc or a magnetic disc. Further, thepresent invention is applicable to various electronic equipment such as,for example, a still camera, a personal computer with a camera functionand others other than the disc type image pickup device.

Also, according to aforesaid embodiments, it was explained aboutexamples where the present invention was applied to an apparatus whichcan not only reproduce but also record as a disc recording and/orreproducing apparatus, but it is needless to say that it is possible toapply to a reproduction-only disc reproducing apparatus or arecording-only disc recording apparatus. Further, according to aforesaidembodiments, it was explained about examples where one face of thepartition wall 10 is covered by the insulation plate 11, but it ispossible to take a constitution of covering both faces of the partitionwall 10 by the insulation plate 11 and in such a case, it is possible toimprove the insulation efficiency by the insulation plate 11.

Having described preferred embodiments of the invention with referenceto the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the inventionis not limited to those precise embodiments and that various changes andmodifications could be effected therein by one skilled in the artwithout departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as definedin the appended claims.

1. A disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising: a tablerotation device for rotationally driving a disc shaped recording mediumdetachably mounted thereon; a mechanical chassis which supports saidtable rotation device; an optical pickup device for carrying out arecord and/or a reproduction of an information signal with respect tosaid disc shaped recording medium driven rotationally by said tablerotation device; a number of printed circuit boards fordrive-controlling said table rotation device and said pickup device; anda case having a partition wall for partitioning an inside of said caseinto two portions so as to form a first chamber and a second chamber; anumber of elastic insulators each fixed to said partition wall andarranged so as to support said mechanical chassis such that saidmechanical chassis is elastically supported by the partition wall; and agrounding member which is electronically conductive and deformable in alengthwise direction, a crosswise direction and a height direction, saidgrounding member being arranged to electrically connect said mechanicalchassis and said partition wall to each other, wherein said tablerotation device and said pickup device are disposed in the first chamberand are supported by one face of said partition wall and the number ofprinted circuit boards is disposed in the second chamber and one of thenumber of printed circuit boards is supported by another face of saidpartition wall, wherein at least a part of one of the faces of saidpartition wall is covered by a thermal insulation member.
 2. The discrecording and/or reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, furthercomprising a display device which can display a picture image obtainedby a solid-state imaging device and the picture image, supplied fromsaid solid-state imaging device and the picture image read out from saiddisc shaped recording medium can be displayed simultaneously on saiddisplay device.
 3. The disc recording and/or reproducing apparatusaccording to claim 1, in which each elastic insulator comprises: anelastic body having a cylindrical shape; an annular groove provided at amid-portion of the elastic body along an axial direction thereof, saidannular groove being continuous in a circumferential direction; and anumber of supporting projections provided on each of a top surface ofthe elastic body and a bottom surface of the elastic body, said numberof supporting projections on the top surface and the bottom surfacebeing arranged in the axial direction for restricting displacement ofthe insulator along the axial direction.
 4. The disc recording and/orreproducing apparatus according to claim 3, in which said mechanicalchassis has a number of notch hole portions, and the respective annulargroove of each said elastic insulator is arranged in a respective notchhole portion.